Dana White: Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor did 6.5 million pay-per-view buys

The Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor show performed as expected as UFC president Dana White claimed the event did 6.5 million pay-per-view (PPV) buys.

The Money Fight as it was called, was predicted to break all records, with both fighters expected to earn nine-figure purses as Mayweather emerged victorious over McGregor with a 10th-round stoppage win on Saturday (26 August).

Following the fight, Mayweather claimed the contest broke all the pay-per-view records, though, it was too early to get all the accurate numbers in.

However, in a conversation during his Tuesday Night Contenders series, White said the event did 6.5 million PPV buys, which would eclipse the previous record set by Mayweather's fight with Manny Pacquiao, which did 4.6 million buys.

According to pro wrestling and MMA journalist Dave Meltzer though, those figures are likely to represent the worldwide total rather than the North American total.

With no official announcement of the numbers as of yet, Meltzer claims the event did not necessarily break the records in North America, however, early indications show that it beat the Mayweather vs Pacquiao numbers in Canada, the UK and Ireland on traditional PPV.

And while the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight did 5.5 million buys worldwide, Saturday night's event would have shattered the worldwide buy record by a million if the numbers are accurate.

The event is also expected to be the most successful streaming PPV event of all time, despite not being helped by the various issues viewers had on Saturday night as UFC.tv users were unable to gain access — and will be receiving refunds as a result — while there were a reported 3 million people who watched the event illegally.

In other parts of the world such as the UK and Ireland, the PPV cost much less while in Mexico, it was aired on two major television networks for free, garnering 24 million viewers.

The real indicator, however, will be the North American numbers which are expected to be announced later this week or next week.

Because the PPV was priced at $99.95 (£77), the numbers from that region will determine how much gross revenue has been generated and if it really broke the record set by Mayweather's fight with Pacquiao.

If that is the case, then McGregor would boast the PPV record in both MMA and boxing.